Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices for electrical power generation from thermal electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitters are currently fabricated using III-V semiconductor materials. For example, an InGaAs layer grown on an InP substrate and illuminated with a SiC radiator heated to 1058 degrees Celsius (° C.) has a power generation density of 0.9 Watt/square centimeter (W/cm2) corresponding to a heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.1%.
In addition, these types of III-V semiconductor devices can only capture infrared radiation having wavelengths up to about 2.20 micrometers (μm) at or above room temperature. It is predicted that TPV devices utilizing III-V semiconductor structures can generate electrical power densities of 2.8 W/cm2 with a 1300 Kelvin (K) thermal EMR emitters which represents a radiated-heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 17.3%.
Additionally, current electrical generation systems using III-V TPV devices are susceptible to losses in efficiencies due to cell heating, require spectral filtering or other concentration devices, and are expensive to manufacture.